What should have been an easy, relaxing class, turned into something a little more stressful, when I got a text from Xan, just before 11AM. I had two classes that day. One at 3PM in Glasgow, and one at 6PM in Edinburgh. I had arranged for Qba and Xan to cover the Edinburgh one - this would have been her second event. And I was going to do the Glasgow one with Ragna.
Xan's text opened with the word "PANIC!!!" I haven't added any of the exclamation marks or capital letters - those are all hers. It went on to say that her boss required her to stay late at work, because she had to interpret for a visiting client. She was the only person able to speak Mandarin.
So, all my carefully set plans suddenly fell apart. I had to be present for the Edinburgh class, as well. And there was no guarantee that I would be able to finish the Glasgow one and make my way to Edinburgh quickly enough to start it on time.
I ran through the times in my head. Do this class. Keep to the schedule, get tidied up by 4:30, take off for the bus station, get into Edinburgh and run for the venue. It was possible. And there was nothing I could do about it now, so I might as well just relax into it.
I held this one at the Piper Bar, just off George Square - so pretty close to Glasgow's bus station, which was a bonus. I set up in one corner of the upstairs bar, where I thought the lighting would be good. Overlooking George Square. I was anticipating six girls for this one, but in the end, there were only four. I felt very bad about that, because they had to pay for a minimum of eight participants, so they actually paid twice the usual price. But they were very nice and pleasant - and working with four girls meant that it felt a bit more intimate than usual.
Ragna arrived, while I was still setting up the room. She had been a Couchsurfing guest of mine a couple of years earlier, and it had been fun catching up with her again, while she was back in the UK. I think she was a little nervous about her role, but she was great at it. She had a lot of questions about protocol and etiquette and I felt bad that I didn't have a lot of proper answers for her. A huge amount of the classes are about spontaneity and flexibility, rather than having a precise plan. I could only tell her that when we got a chance to speak to the girl who had booked us, we would have a much clearer plan. I think she wasn't keen on how vague that sounded, so she pressed me for a default option that she could fall back on, so I did my best to provide one. I was actually very pleased that she was taking it so seriously.
One of them texted us when they arrived, so I sent Ragna down to meet her and bring them upstairs. And once it all kicked off, she was great. Completely relaxed and very friendly with the girls. And she was able to follow the general banter pretty well - it seemed to me that we had a very good working relationship.
As usual, all the worries and concerns about timing and schedules and the potential for the next event to run badly… all that faded away, when this class started. I got into the routine and enjoyed myself, setting up the challenges and talking to the girls. It was all fun. It was great to get back into the swing of it, after the winter break.
When the class was done and we had waved the girls off, I was able to tidy everything up and pack it away in record time. Ragna and I walked up towards the bus station and separated on the other side of George Square. I caught the very next bus back to Edinburgh.
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